Surviving Rapture
by Evil Bob 616
Summary: Life in paradise isnt all its cracked up to be. The civil war in Rapture has been and gone, leaving a group of survivours in one of the lesser-traveled areas of the city trying desperately to survive. There are no spoilers or anything, just so you know.
1. Pain

She must have been about seven years old... There were two men, one was holding her still, the other had a sword... And looked like he was going to use it on her. Richard looked on in horror, everything seemed to be going far too fast for him to react and so he just stood, motionless. The girl screamed "Cover her mouth... We don't want a big daddy showing up" One of the men had spoken... Richard couldn't tell which one as the moment had already passed when he heard it... He was horribly aware that this should not be happening, then he remembered where he was.

He looked about, the decorations had always seemed a little over the top before... But now it seemed like his whole world. He glanced up at a chandelier and immediately wished he hadn't, something's intestines were strewn along the top like a grotesque party decoration, a drop of blood hit him on the cheek, but he never felt it. This was rapture... No, this was hell.

That was no girl, it was a little sister... And the only way to get her precious ADAM was to kill her. Richard didn't like it but he had no choice if he wanted to survive in Rapture... And that's why he had organised this.

Alex raised the sword above his head. It glinted in the light as Richard stared... The sword had originally been a decoration at one of the bars... Richard wasn't sure how sharp it was but Alex had assured him it was a useable weapon.

As for the man holding the sword Alex was a man of few words... He generally let his actions speak for him. Alex was emotionally distant from rapture, maybe that's the way they all should be. Richard just couldn't help caring.

But Alex was a useful ally, he had saved Richard from a group of Splicers once and lost an eye in the process... As much as Alex said it didn't matter Richard always felt he needed to repay him... Somehow.

At the last moment John pulled the girl out of the way, Alex swung at air and cut a neat line in the wood floor. Alex glanced up at John with his good eye, the other covered by a thick layer of bandages. "Please... She can't be ten years old..." John was on the brink of tears, he had found adjusting to life in hell difficult, and still hadn't got used to it.

"She is a little sister... Its necessary..." Alex protested emotionlessly

"But... She still has a right to life, right?"

Richard couldn't take any more, he could hear dull, metallic roaring in his head, he could smell the disgusting stench that lingers with a big daddy "FOR FUCKS SAKE JOHN, ITS HER OR US!" He shouted before he realised he had done it. John looked confused for a moment, then the girl screamed... His grip on her had weakened during the argument. He pulled her back, covering her mouth once more.

"Just close your eyes and hold her still, this will only take a second" Alex raised the sword again.

There was another roar, louder, at first Richard had thought it was in his head, but he had quickly realised from the reaction of the others this was not the case.

"Help Mr B!" the girl shouted, she broke free of Johns grip for a second, he chased her for a moment before he realised the floor was shaking, a drill burst into life nearby and a wall slowly gave way, another roar was heard in the room, louder this time. A big daddy stood at the hole in the wall, drill still whirring.

"RUN!" Alex shouted

Alex had been the first to react, Richard followed him as soon as he heard the yell. But John was slower, he begun to run shakily, almost tripping every time he took a step, Richard immediately had the feeling John wasn't going to live much longer.

The armour-plated monster swung at some furniture, sending it flying toward the three men. The furniture missed horribly but the Big daddy had already started to run, gaining momentum with each step. Within a few moments it was as fast as them, a moment later it was faster.

Alex rounded a sharp corner into a narrow corridor, Richard was still dazed and almost hit the wall, but turned narrowly, he was worried for John for a moment, but soon felt his presence behind him, the monster had to slow down for the turn, but was quickly gaining on them again.

Alex left the corridor, shouting "UP!" as he went, Richard tried to shout back but his lungs wouldn't allow it, he was suddenly aware that he was very tired. He didn't think he could run much further, but that... Thing... That could keep going all day.

Richard rounded the corner, it was another dimly lit room, larger than the first. This room could have been a restaurant once, there were a few tables and a counter on his current floor and a few more above. This was arranged so that the top floor overlapped the bottom one. But Richard was focused solely on the stairs, 'up'. He had lost sight of Alex and was aware that he was starting to slow down.

The big daddy slowed itself in time to turn the corner, Richard on the other hand almost ran into an overturned chair, and stumbling out of the way he tripped and fell, John looked at him in horror and froze, feeling as if reality had just collapsed.

The stairs creaked as the monster started to ascend, a board of wood broke, the creature wobbled for a moment but remained on the stairs, it took another step.

_Please don't make it_

The creature kept going, the wood whined with each step...

_Please don't make it_

...Half way there...

_Please don't make it_

...A section of the stairs collapsed, the creature shook but stayed. It placed one foot on the top of the stairs.

_Shit_

Richard looked at the monster, it looked straight back, it roared, as if in triumph from its ascent of the stairs. Richard closed his eyes, at least if it was over soon he wouldn't have to live another day in rapture.

John shouted and threw himself at the thing. Maybe it was caught off guard by Johns speed or his stupidity, wither way, it didn't react as John pushed his revolver into, what was presumably, its face and fired. The creature stumbled clumsily backwards, its drill arm flailing into the banister on the stairs, destroying it instantly, its other hand caught John by the arm and grabber him, John fired another two shots and they both fell, demolishing the remains of the stairs in the process.

Richard crawled over to the edge, too confused to stand. The big daddy roared and made a desperate attempt to get back to its feet, John was stood at the bottom shouting something, Richard couldn't make out what. John reached up to him and Richard unconsciously reached down, John was too far away by a fingertip, Richard reached a little further over the edge and unbalanced, he flailed out his arms sensing he was about to fall. Alex caught one of the arms and pulled him back.

There was the whirring of a drill and John screamed. It was too late to save him now.

"You know, I wasn't going to come back for you..." Alex said.

The drill spun into life again, the cracking and splintering of wood being hit by a giant armoured creature could be heard from below, Alex immediately knew what was happening, the big daddy was trying to demolish the platform they were stood on. Richard was too shaken to understand and Alex had to pull him most of the way, they ran into a nearby corridor, a moment later the platform behind them collapsed.

"Stubborn bastard..." Alex taunted the big daddy, though he was aware it probably couldn't tell what he was saying.

Richard looked down on the splintered wood, it moved a little, then a little more, then a lot. The big daddy emerged from the rubble and roared with anger.

With the platform cleared Richard could clearly see John from his current position, or at least, what was left of him. The drill had first been directed at his stomach, He had screamed for a moment but 

as the drill shredded through his insides the screaming stopped. When John fell the creature pushed the drill into his face, even without the drill spinning the force at which it was thrust caused it to penetrate Johns skull and go through the other side, turning the drill on caused the remains of the head to explode, showering the nearby are with blood and brain matter. Richard watched helpless as it happened again and again in his own mind, each time there was some extra grotesque detail. The only thing that remained the same was the sense of powerlessness in the brief period of time before it happened again.

"BASTARD!" Richard shouted, pulling his makeshift crossbow on the armoured creature. He fired but the shot went wide, embedding itself in the wall, The monster had no means of retaliating and thus Richard was able to load and fire a second crossbow bolt. The bolt, like the crossbow, had been made by Richard with the help of a U-Invent machine, this specific bolt was little more than a large nail he had found, but it did its job. The bolt struck a weak point in the armour and sank into the big daddies flesh, penetrating the arm and sinking to the bone. This only made the already enraged big daddy even angrier.

Richard searched for a third crossbow but was unable to find one, he was forced to take off his backpack and look inside, hoping the Big daddy didn't move while he got his equipment in order.

"Richard..."

Richard found one, this bolt looked considerably more like a regular crossbow bolt.

"Richard."

He loaded the bolt, and raised the crossbow to fire.

"RICHARD!"

Richard looked up to see a small table approaching him rapidly, the big daddy had obviously thrown it to him and it was now too late to move out of the way, he held up his hand in desperation.

Nothing.

The table stopped in the air, turning slowly. In the confusion Richard had almost forgotten he had got that plasmid, but he had managed to get it from the little bit of ADAM he was able to acquire. His genetic structure had been altered, tapping into his already powerful brain, he could now move objects with only the power of his mind.

Richard fired the table back, the monster swatted at it in the air and by the time the table reached its armour there was little left other than splinters. There was no more time for revenge, with one look back at his fallen friend Richard left, Alex following behind. They left the big daddy to its duty.


	2. Depression

Richard sat in the empty room and looked around at his shattered memories. The place had used to be one of the most crowded bars in rapture, now he was the only one there.

He sat with only his crossbow for company, drinking... Something, it was very alcoholic at least, though it could have been poison for all he cared. Either way it would help relieve the pain.

The music played on a dull, futile loop with no fresh audience to hear it for months. He remembered vaguely meeting John there, though he didn't want to think about that.

_John died to save you... You could be a little more grateful_

"SHUT UP!" he shouted out loud, then realised he was shouting to himself and calmed down, losing himself in the past.

Richard had been a scientist a long time ago, albeit not a famous one. He never discovered anything or did anything, but he had the kind of talent that made him welcome down in rapture. Once he arrived nothing changed, now he was too busy marvelling at the inventions of the other brilliant minds in the city and he failed to do anything spectacular himself.

Richard began losing money rapidly, and while he was able to keep out of the poor house he ended up in one of the poorer areas in rapture. He still failed to achieve anything, and by this time he even considered himself a failure.

Then all hell went loose, there were gunfights, riots... After a while the people had used ADAM to become stronger, its only then Richard saw the widespread physical disfigurement it caused, aswell as the mental damage. The poorer areas became unclaimed land during the civil war, but splicers soon moved in to steal the supplies and the limited amounts of ADAM within.

As the chaos spread so did disease, it was nothing like anyone had ever seen on land, the disease would kill someone in two weeks, but not before intense pain, insanity and increased reactions to ADAM, gene tonics and plasmids.

_Typical... The only thing worse than a maniac is an electrified one._

Richard was the only one in the damn place who could help... And true to form he messed up. Sure he managed to immunize himself and his best friend Alex, but the damage had already been done, he had been too late.

_They're all dead and its you're fault._

Now there was very little left, Richard estimated around 98 of the population in the area were dead, and even the rest were insane. There had been a time when groups of survivors would help each other, but as resources got low they became hostile.

Richard was now fighting to survive... Sometimes he wasn't sure why. He had failed at everything he had ever done, and...

_...And now John is dead..._

John had been the only person in the city who seemed to not have been out to kill him, and now.

_You let him die_

Richard kept telling himself it wasn't his fault, but he couldn't believe it. If he hadn't been so helpless John would still be alive...

_You're supposed to be a leader... How can you help anyone else when you can't even help yourself?_

Richard was useless, every time he had been put under pressure in his whole life he had failed, as a result of that everyone was dead, all his friends and family in Rapture had either been murdered, died of the disease or given in and killed themselves.

_It should have been you._

_PATHETIC!_

_USELESS!_

_HELPLESS!_

"GO AWAY!" Richard shouted, then again, and again. He must have shouted for a full minutes, the same thing over and over, banging his fists on the table until they bled, he must have looked pathetic, even more so than usual. Eventually he stopped and slumped onto the table, he took a big drink of whatever alcoholic liquid he had stumbled upon and sighed.

_Maybe this was all some sort of test... And I failed... Big time. Rapture is my punishment._

His thoughts were interrupted as a figure walked casually into the room. Richard almost fell off his chair, but the figure walked past obliviously, the figure stood in the middle of the room and began an imaginary conversation with an invisible person.

Other figures appeared, some already in the room. Before long the room was full of people taking part in various social activities. Some of the figures walked through chairs, or sat at tables that had been moved. Richard realised these were not people at all, each shared the same blank expression, each seemed similarly out-of-focus. They were ghosts of raptures past.

The room got louder, people talking, whispering, shouting, singing, dancing, laughing, crying. Some tall, some short. Some fat, some thin. Each one getting louder and louder until the ones that had been whispering were yelling, each conversation imprinted itself into his mind.

Each person in the room, the sad, the happy, the angry, shocked, confused, joyful, calm, carefree, embarrassed, in love...

Each one of them was a person Richard had let die.

He threw the bottle at the largest crowd of them, they disappeared before the bottle hit, along with their friends, and their friends' friends... Before long the room was empty again, the bottle hit the ground and exploded. Then there was silence, even the music of the record player stopped, leaving Richard to wallow in his own self-pity.


	3. Failure

Richard looked up at the sign.

The sign read 'office of Mr P. Smith' but it was hard to tell that now, as 'rich' had been roughly painted over the top of it in red.

_Home, sweet home_

Richard had never had his own office, but he rather enjoyed having one now. Of course he had needed to steal it. Mr Paul Smith had presumably died, but not before he set up a tight security system, Richard had managed to hack a machinegun turret inside the room and he had taken out the camera with a well-aimed crossbow bolt. The connecting room, possibly a storage room or something, had a flamethrower turret inside, and so the door was locked until Richard could think of a way to deal with it.

Richard had added a lock on the door, the kind you had to put in the right code to open, often splicers would pass and beat the lock with blunt objects, but unlike the previous lock they had no hope of ever opening it.

1... 2... 3... 1... Richard put the code in and the door swung open, he had been particularly uninspired when he had thought of that code, but at least he wouldn't forget it.

Alex was already inside, he glanced up for a moment but said noting, Richard walked past him and over to his desk.

His desk... Everything in it was for Mr. P Smith, but that didn't matter. Richard looked around for a moment and found this was also where he had left the plans for 'the bait'.

The bait... That's what he had called it, he remembered trying to explain it to Alex.

"Please, Nothing too... Science-y" Alex had interrupted the moment Richard opened his mouth to talk.

"alright" Richard smiled "Big daddies basically have some sort of... Bond or something to the little sisters, er... They can tell where the little sisters are the whole time, and that's why its so hard to get rid of them. With me so far?"

"I think so"

"Ok, the, uh, 'the bait'" He smiled as he said it... He liked the rather unimpressive, uninspiring name he had given it. "It basically screws that up, you attach it to a big daddies armour and it cant tell where the little sister is anymore.

"Wouldn't attaching it be difficult without being attacked by one of those freaks?" Alex didn't sound particularly worried, but Richard wasn't sure if Alex cared weather he lived or died anyway.

"That's NOT the hard part... The hard part is to take the little sister away so he can lose her, even without his... Sixth sense sorta thing he isn't going to lose her while he can see her."

Alex smiled and nodded "You're insane, you know that?"

"Come on Alex, its the best chance we have and you know it!" Richard realised he had started to sound a little aggressive, he smiled to show he wasn't mad, but it just made him look crazy, Alex ignored him, he sat motionless for a moment, staring at the floor, and then said "I will do it."

That part of the plan had worked, Richard had no idea how Alex had done it, but he snatched the little sister right from under the big daddies nose... If it had a nose.

And then...

_Then John died_

Richard threw the papers on the floor and sunk into his chair, there were only him and Alex left in the damn place who didn't want to kill him, he had got help but, like most of the things in his life, he threw it away.

Then he noticed something under the desk, he picked it up, banging his head on the desk in the process. It was a blank audio diary. Richard vaguely remembered finding it before when he was a lot more drunk than he was now. Alex had told him not to record a message in case they "invite the wrong sort of customer", Richard had sworn at him a little, then fallen over.

Apparently Alex had hidden the audio diary under the desk, maybe he had been out of good hiding spots, or maybe he just wanted it to be right under Richards nose, but either way, he had found it now...

Meanwhile the big daddy Richard had encountered earlier was walking around a street not too far away from Richards office.

It had now completely forgotten about the incident earlier, even that it had been shot in the arm and the bolt was still there, all it knew was that it had succeeded in keeping the little sister safe, and it was happy with that.

Did it feel happy? Could it feel happy? Could it feel?

It didn't matter, as long as she was safe.

The big daddy was suddenly aware something was wrong, the room was getting hotter, a floorboard caught fire, then another, it kept going. Oddly the fire made a straight line, completely cutting him off from...

"Mr Bubbles!"

The armoured monster panicked, there had to be a way round or something, no. It couldn't see through the fire but he could hear someone laughing on the other side, it ran through the fire, its armour heated up, scalding the flesh inside. It screamed a dull metallic scream, the laughing continued.

It groaned and slowly got back to its feet. There were two men, one was holding the little sister by the arm. The drill roared into life and the creature struck out at the man holding the girl. The punch would have been enough to decapitate him if he had not have ducked at the last moment, the punch only served to throw the monster off balance for a moment, but when it turned back neither of the men were there.

The little sister remained, however. She ran to the big daddy and hugged against his leg for a moment, the monster waited. During this time one of the men managed to sneak up behind the monster and place the palm of his hand firmly against its back armour. The monster never felt it until the hand caught fire and heated up to a few hundred degrees. The creature screamed again as it cooked inside its own armour.

"Mr Bubbles, get up, please..."

Richard never saw any of this. He was currently fumbling with the blank audio diary.

Of course Alex had told him not to, 'attracting the wrong kind of customer' and all that, but hell, Richard just wanted to know if anyone was out there. Also he figured a splicer would be more likely to break the diary than read the damn thing.

He clicked it on, then paused.

"Umm... Hey"

He had been waiting for so long and now he had no idea what to say...

"Uhh..."

He shook his head and waited another moment.

"If... Uh... If anyone can here this... I... I just"

He beat the device against his head and started again.

"If anyone can hear this, come to my office... Well, not technically my office, its the office of Mr P. Smith... Well, its not any more"

_You're rambling_

"shut up" he whispered, hoping it wouldn't be audible to the device.

"Anyway the door code is..." He paused, half because he was afraid of splicers getting in, and the other half because he was afraid of a perfectly nice person getting in and being torn apart by the machinegun turret.

"You know what, just knock"

_You sound ridiculous_

We have some supplies and stuff... And, hell... We just need to know someone else is alive down here..."

He clicked the stop button and then hit himself in the mouth for being such a damn fool. He dropped the device on the floor near a few bins and walked away.


	4. Found

"You did it, didn't you..."

Richard hadn't even opened the door all the way.

"Did what?" He replied as if he didn't already know what Alex was angry about.

"The audio diary is gone"

"Oh" Richard stepped inside and locked the door. "Then I guess I did do it."

"Richard... I normally wouldn't argue, but you are going to get us both killed." Alex sat on a chair in front of Richards desk, he was looking at a random patch of floor for some reason, and didn't even look up to speak.

"What are you so angry about?"

"What if some splicers find it?"

"The door is locked, they will bash it for a while and then go home, nothing to worry about. Everyone is dead around here anyway" The last sentence was muttered to himself.

"Well... We had better hope so. You should try to get some sleep."

Richard hadn't slept properly in ages, even now he could still hear the screams...

The next morning came... Or at least it was presumably morning, it was difficult to tell when there was no natural light. Whatever the case, Richard hadn't slept a bit.

Alex however was fast asleep on a chair, Richard kind of admired his ability to distance himself from the world around him, he smiled a little in anticipation of what he was about to do.

"ALEX!" He shouted, Alex jumped up and fell off the chair he had been sat on, then stood back up hurriedly.

"What!?" Alex scowled

"Today's orders" Richard smiled, he always thought about himself as the leader, though the sentence hadn't been entirely sarcastic.

"Yes captain?" Alex replied sarcastically.

"We are going to widen our searches, look for survivors and stuff."

"Richard, where the hell do you think we are, even if we find someone who isn't dead or insane they will probably be hostile, plus we could search all day and find, fucking, nothing." There was a slight pause between the last two words as he forced 'fuck' into his sentence for effect.

"We cant just give up" Richard said, making it clear that he was going to go searching no matter what.

"Fine" Alex shrugged "If I die at least I wont have to live here anymore"

"But, first we are going to get rid of that flamethrower"

Alex allowed himself to smile a little "Since when were you in charge?"

"Since always" Richard replied.

Richard was determined to do both these things. During the period of the day where he was attempting to sleep Richard thought things over, he gave himself goals to achieve and that helped him survive, infact they were the only things keeping him fighting. A little while after the killing started Richard had decided he wanted his own office, which he had achieved a week later, then he decided to make 'the bait' and get himself some ADAM...

_That worked like a charm, didn't it._

That one was still a work in progress, but the bait had been a success. Now he was going to get rid of the flamethrower turret and then he was going to rescue someone.

Alex opened the door, then dived out of the way as a column of flame burst out of the room, a few filing cabinets set alight but no serious damage was caused, Richard, who had been waiting with his crossbow, fired into the room, the bolt missed spectacularly and broke on contact with the back wall, the door closed itself.

"Did you get it?" Alex asked

"NO" Richard snapped, then calmed down a little "Would you kindly open the door again?"

Alex repeated his previous action, opening the door and then diving to the side as the flames shot out, Richard fired the crossbow again, this time the string snapped and the bolt flew directly up, slowly spinning back down to earth and landing less than a foot in front of Richard.

"Did you get it?" Alex asked again sarcastically, he knew exactly what had happened.

Richard stared at his now useless crossbow, he had known the string wouldn't be strong enough but had hoped it would last a little while "The damn string broke... Open the door again, I have a better Idea"

"How many times are we going to do this? I thought we had other things to do today"

"Just open the fucking door"

"Nice... " Alex walked back over to the door, opened it, and jumped aside. This jump was rather less enthusiastic than the last and he almost ended up being barbequed. Richard, without his crossbow was forced to shoot a filing cabinet at the turret using his telekinesis. The turret immediately snapped in half, leaving it no longer of any threat.

Alex wandered into the room, kicking the turret for good measure, before emerging again with the phrase "I think you're going to like this Richard."

Before he died Mr P. Smith had become paranoid and set up a security system inside his office, he had also amassed enough supplies to survive inside the office for a very long time. Inside the room was a mountain of cans of food and bottles of water, of course, the two had to move Mr P. Smith away from it, who was long dead. They also found a shotgun with eight shells which would hopefully serve as a decent replacement to Richards broken crossbow until he could get it fixed.

Richard smiled to himself, for once things were starting to go right, he had eaten almost-well for the first time in months. After finishing his soup he stood up and announced. "Right, time for the next task"

Alex shook his head and went back to his half-finished soup.

"If... Uh... If anyone can here this... I... I just... _**thump**_...If anyone can hear this, come to my office... Well, not technically my office, its the office of Mr P. Smith... Well, its not any more... _shut up... _Anyway the door code is... ... ...You know what, just knock"

"What the hell is this" A hooded figure asked, holding the audio diary up to the other.

The other man said nothing

"Sounds like this one went mad a long while ago, or maybe he is just stupid, who do you think it is?"

The other man paused for a moment before announcing "I know EXACTLY who that is"

"Really? Then maybe we should pay them a visit" He laughed a shrill laugh that sounded almost like a scream, then tossed the audio diary aside, hitting it with an electro bolt for good measure.


	5. Lost

All the corridors looked the same...

Everything looked similar, the decoration on the walls and floors, the seemingly endless sections of corridor and even the blood-soaked floors. And Alex kept mockingly asking if Richard knew where they were.

Alex seemed calm whereas Richard was afraid they were both going to die very shortly. Alex was always calm...

_Just as if he had known what was going to happen the whole time you were with him?_

Richard ignored that. Today hadn't all been a waste, a few of the rooms had contained supplies that they might need sometime, and Richard had fixed his crossbow. Though he had needed to give Alex the shotgun because of that.

_I would watch out for him with that weapon... He will shoot you in the back._

"shut up" Richard muttered

"Are you alright Richard?" Alex asked, he sounded a little concerned

_Yeah, right. Concerned_

"Im fine" Richard said, not looking Alex in the eye.

"Maybe I should take the lead, I think I know the way back" Alex said, looking away down one of the corridors while he was speaking.

"Sure" Richard looked him in the eye this time, just to prove to himself that he could. But it was difficult and he had to look away after a few moments.

"Ok, follow me" Alex walked out in front of Richard.

_He is going to lead you into a trap._

Richard glanced down at the crossbow in his hand, then up at Alex.

_Shoot him_

As Alex walked Richard raised the crossbow, but froze with the man in his sights and his finger on the trigger.

_SHOOT HIM!_

Richard tried to pull the trigger but couldn't, he threw the weapon on the floor and fell to his knees, clutching his head.

_You're going to die._

"You just dropped your crossbow, are you sure you are ok?" Alex turned

"Im fine" Richard said, Alex didn't believe him, but started walking again anyway. Richard picked up his crossbow and followed him.

It seemed like they had been walking for hours through the identical rooms and corridors , sometimes Richard could swear he had seen something before, it felt like they were walking in circles.

_You probably are, the traitor is in the lead_

Richard shook his head but the last thought still stayed, what if Alex was leading him into a trap...

"Richard, is something on your mind, you keep stopping and im getting worried"

"Huh, no... Im fine" Richard responded pathetically. Was it possible that Alex could tell what he was thinking? With plasmids, everything was possible, right?

"Well keep moving, unless you're still determined to get us both killed" The last bit had been intended as a joke to lighten Richards sour mood, Richard smiled in the acknowledgement of this but made no attempt to reply until Alex turned away. Richard froze, his entire brain concentrating on trying to think of a reply to seem natural, but the moment had passed, Richard resumed walking.

As Richard and Alex wandered to find the office two hooded men were already there.

"This is the place? Looks pretty shoddy"

"Indeed"

"Do you think anyone is in?"

The other man merely pointed to a sign on the door, Richard insisted on putting it there in case someone read the diary and came, the sign read 'out to lunch'. Neither of the men laughed.

"They're out eh? Maybe we should just have a look inside, should I get the door?"

"Careful, there is a turret inside"

The other man smiled "Where would I be without you?" he laughed, and then vanished.

The other man smiled a little himself and then disappeared in a similar fashion.

"Aha!" Alex exclaimed, still trying to get a response from Richard.

Richard looked over to him, then looked down to what Alex had seen. "A map?"

"Damn right!" There was a map on a small podium in the far corner.

"Are we close?" Richard asked nervously

"We are..." Alex paused to examine the map "Fucking miles away, but at least I know where we are headed now, come on!" Alex quickly left the room through the door they had come in. Richard looked at the map but it was too complicated for him to make out in his current state of mind, he followed Alex... Suspiciously.

_I see you_

Richard looked around, wondering if he had heard the voice in his head.

"Richard, try to stay focused"

"Sorry... Didn't you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"You know what, it doesn't matter. Im probably just going insane"

"Well can you do that and walk at the same time? Come on!"

_I see you both_

Richard started walking a little too quickly and almost hit Alex, a patch of rubble dropped from the roof and hit Richard on the shoulder. He looked up. Nothing.

_Go ahead and leave..._

Alex seemed oblivious to the noise, maybe it was just in his head

_...Wherever you go, I will follow..._

That strange rasping whisper. Could it really be in his head?

_...And when I catch you... Im going to kill you both..._

"Alex, are you sure you cant hear anything"

"Im positive, can we just move?"

_He is lying_

That last part was definitely in his head. He kept walking...

...And the Spider Splicer kept following him, along with a few other Splicers who, like vultures, could sense impending death...


	6. Dead

Rapture was a city of death.

Everyone needed ADAM to be strong enough to survive, but to get the ADAM they would need to kill. As long as people kept dying there would be ADAM but there would never be enough, not for those damn splicers...

Richard wasn't aware at the time, but there was currently something closing in on him with the sole intention of murdering him and Alex.

The spider splicer crawled silently along the roof. Looking at the two men upside-down gave it a sense of satisfaction about what it intended to do, it admired its bladed hooks for a moment. They would soon be stained with blood. It followed the two men... Waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

"Damn"

The 'damn' took Richard by surprise, something was clearly wrong and he had been convinced Alex had known where he was going.

"What?" Richard asked, his voice shaking. He had intended to say 'what's wrong?' But couldn't manage the second word.

"We can't get back this way, looks like a tunnel collapse, door wont open."

"So we are lost again?"

"Nah, I saw the map, there is another route, it's just a little longer"

Richard wasn't sure if he could take this for any longer.

Alex changed course, exiting the room to the left. Richard and the spider splicer followed him.

The splicer was shaking with anticipation, it wasn't sure how long it could wait, nor how long it should wait, it hadn't had fresh blood on its hooks for ages and had assumed everyone was dead already, imagine its surprise when those two walked into the trap it had set.

The map was obvious, someone would be lost, go to the map, step on the creaky floorboard. As soon as it had heard the noise it leaped with anticipation, making its way after the pair, being careful not to wake any of the others. It was his kill, not theirs... Both these men were his kill.

They were trapped in his web, weather they knew it or not.

Richard was getting more nervous by the second, not just nervous, he could feel his sanity slipping away.

_The walls are closing in, the air is thinning, that corpse just moved._

Richard was sure he was imagining these things... But.

_That corpse was over by the table... And it wasn't holding a gun..._

"Alex!" Richard managed, he pointed at the corpse.

Alex turned to him, then to the body, he lowered his shotgun for a moment, that was a mistake.

Richard was shocked when the corpse leaped onto its feet, even Alex was caught off guard. It laughed and pressed the revolver against Alex's head before he could bring the shotgun back up.

"MINE!" The spider splicer leaped from the roof, dropping neatly behind the lead splicer. He tried to turn round but was too slow, before he could fire a shot the spider splicer had remover his head with a scissor-like action using a hook in each hand.

Alex stumbled backwards and fired with the shotgun, he missed completely but scared the splicer enough for it to jump back up to the roof. Richard fired with the crossbow but true to form he missed.

Richard struggled to load another bolt into his crossbow while Alex fired again at the splicer on the roof, this time the shot was aimed perfectly but the spider splicer dodged by spinning to the side so it was facing the floor, giving it a great view of Richard struggling with the crossbow and a few ideas.

Richard dropped the bolt on the floor and fumbled for another, found one. This was one of his nail bolts.

"Richard, look out!" Richard looked up to see two blades flying towards him, he quickly stopped one with his telekinesis, but the other cut him deeply across the left arm and he dropped the first onto the floor.

Richard winced with pain and dropped the crossbow, clutching his arm near the shoulder where the splicer had cut him to the bone. The splicer quickly gripped two more hooks and dropped to the floor, performing a gymnastic backflip on the way down. Richard looked up to see the splicer readying its blades.

Alex leaped to the rescue, shoving his shotgun into the splicers face, it never had time to react.

BANG

Richard was stunned as to what caused the sudden noise, but it all made sense when the splicers head exploded, covering Alex and himself with gore.

Richard fell backwards and sat on the floor near his crossbow, panting heavily.

"Richard, we have to go, there could be more of those things" Alex grabbed him by the arm and pulled him up, Richard barely had time to pick up his crossbow and one of the bolts he had dropped.

Alex was right, there were more, lots more.

Richard followed him, the whole world passing him by. He was unable to focus on anything but one thought.

_I warned you. Have you seen a splicer around here in months? NO! This was organised..._

Would Alex really do that?

_You can't trust anyone in rapture. He probably just wants some cheap ADAM._

No, it's not possible...

_And now, you're going to DIE!_

"We should be back soon Richard, just a little longer, okay?" Alex could see how shaken his friend was. Richard could only nod in response.

_You're never going to get back_

The splicers would have been hasty to agree. The sight of their dead comrade told them one thing, there was someone alive down there, and now they would have to split the ADAM one less way...


	7. Frenzy

This time the Splicers were done being stealthy, they screamed and yelled as they ran at full pelt. Alex struggled to get Richard to run fast enough to keep their considerable head start.

"Come on Richard! Just a little further!" Alex shouted, Richard couldn't hear anything in his current state. The cut on Richards arm was bleeding quite badly, but the real reason he wasn't responding was because he was severely shocked. Alex was having to pull him along by his good arm.

A bullet whizzed past the side of Alex's head, one of the splicers had ran ahead of the others. Alex pushed Richard aside, saving him from a second bullet which would have taken his life, the splicer kept running at Alex, screaming. Alex shouted a little himself and ran toward the lunatic, this had taken the Splicer by surprise and he was unable to react as an elbow came up into his face, knocking him over. This was quickly followed by a fatal shotgun blast.

Alex could hear the others shouting, they were getting closer. He grabbed Richard and sprinted to the door, Richard barely managed to keep up.

They were close to the office, but still too far away. Alex could never make it back dragging Richard with him, but he wasn't going to leave him behind either. It sounded like a cloud of pure noise was entering the room, the splicers yelling, screaming and laughing. They must be close.

Alex had no idea how many of them there were, if they were armed or not, or any other information that would seriously have helped at this time, but he instinctively threw over a table and told Richard to get down, then proceeded to the door himself. It was probably better to die anyway, but he was going to take as many of them as he could with him.

Richard sat shivering in the corner behind the desk Alex had told him to hide behind, he could barely think or move.

_Heads up, here they come!_

The first of the splicers entered the room, Alex had been waiting and was able to fire at them the moment they arrived, the shot was aimed at the middle of the target and the spread of the shell managed to decimate almost every square inch of it.

"Richard, get the door" Alex shouted, ducking back behind the table, just letting the second splicer see him, this one was armed with a revolver. Richard was almost overwhelmed by the simple request, but Alex had anticipated that his request may not be met right away, A large hole appeared in the wood near Alex's head, he quickly jumped up and fired a shot back.

_You're just going to sit there and die, aren't you?_

What else can I do?

_How about you get the door?_

"Richard, NOW!"

Alex fired another shell at the second splicer, forcing it to dive for cover just as a third splicer entered the room, a bullet whizzed by Alex's head and took a chunk of his ear with it, Alex ducked back behind the table and pressed a finger to the remaining part of his ear, it was obviously bleeding.

Richard struggled to his knees and crawled to the farthest reaches of the overturned table, the table was rapidly dissolving as more and more bullets passed through it, but Richard didn't realised, he was entirely focused on the door.

Seeing what his friend was doing Alex leaped out of cover and fired, one of the splicers had made a similar move to stop Richard and in the explosion of fire the splicer lost both legs and Alex remained miraculously unharmed.

Richard shoved the door open, Alex grabbed him and ran through the door, the last splicer with all its limbs attached fired randomly into the door. The other less fortunate one lay still, quietly bleeding to death.

The confusion had only helped Alex and Richard escape into a narrow corridor where resisting their attackers would be impossible, Alex checked his shotgun, empty. He loaded two more shells and then found there were no more.

"Fuck!"

"What now!?"

"Just keep running!"

At least Richards condition had improved.

The door opened, Alex fired before the splicer could, the splicer dropped dead pathetically in the doorway, unfortunately it seemed two more splicers had entered the room since Alex and Richard had left, one was carrying a revolver, a resource this particular gang of splicers seemed to have a lot of, the other was a spider splicer, Alex wasn't sure he had enough shells left to deal with that one.

Richard swung the door at the other end of the corridor open just as Alex arrived at it, allowing him to continue inside, Richard quickly came under fire, but Alex fired his shotgun into the corridor, forcing the splicers to dodge to each side, and giving Richard time to escape. They were on the same corridor as the office now, it was about half way down, which was only a couple of steps, the two of them sprinted for the door.

The door behind them they had been in too much of a hurry to close, and the pair of splicers quickly arrived, the spider splicer took to the ceiling, while the gun-armed splicer remained on the floor, this one chased after the pair while firing randomly between them.

Richard was about ten steps from the door when he heard Alex scream with pain.

Alex suddenly felt an intense pain in his leg, then quickly found his leg would not work in the way he had intended it to anymore, he fell forward, leaving a trail of blood behind him. A bullet had gone right through his leg.

The splicer that had shot him seemed shocked at their own accuracy, they stopped in front of Alex for a moment and looked down, admiring their work.

It was a woman wearing an elaborate mask, did she smile as she saw Alex's horrified face?

"BASTARD!"

Alex rolled over and fired the last shell at the splicer, she seemed shocked as the spread entered her body and began to cut apart her insides, but she never made any attempt to cry out as she fell. It would take her at least ten minutes to die.

Alex felt a cloud of dust and rubble hit his neck, he looked up to see the spider splicer above him, grinning.

"RICHARD!!"

Richard wasn't sure what to do, once Alex had been shot he had been unable to decide between opening the office door or going back to help, and thus had remained motionless.

He saw Alex lying on the ground, hen looked up to see the splicer, Alex was shouting distantly, and the splicer seemed quite content to stay where it was, embracing his fear.

_Richard, remember how this happened? It was because of Alex, he led you into a trap... Hell, maybe this is still a trap._

"Alex didn't do any of that! He saved me" Richard whispered harshly, the crossbow shaking in his hands

_Then when did you last see a splicer around here? There were none! Not until Alex..._

"He is my friend..."

_He is NOT your friend, he probably just wanted cheap ADAM_

"No, he always helped me when I was in trouble, its time for me to return the favour"

_You're going to regret this..._

All that happened in the space of a second, Richard hadn't even audibly whispered, it was all in his mind.

And now he knew what he had to do, and he couldn't afford to miss this time.

Richard fired quickly, without much time to aim, almost believing he could guide the shot to its target with only his will. The bolt hit one of the splicers hooks, which it dropped, narrowly missing Alex's head, unfortunately the hook had been imperative to the splicers efforts to remain on the ceiling and it shook, then fell, Alex rolled to the side, but the splicer somehow managed to land on its feet and swung its remaining hook at Alex. Alex grabbed the splicers arm, but his enemy was stronger than him and the hook was able to slowly continue its path to Alex's neck.

Richard found another bolt instantly, but struggled to load it into the crossbow.

The hook pierced the skin on Alex's neck, he felt blood start to ooze out of the fresh wound and join that of his old ones.

As Richard struggled with the crossbow, the splicer burst into flames before his very eyes. The head caught fire first, then it spread downward. Alex managed to shuffle out of the way of the burning corpse before it fell on him.

They both looked around, then realised they had been joined by two other men.

"Ah... Richard" One of them said, he was wearing a dark hood and it was impossible to see his face, the other man stood behind him, wearing a similar hood, and laughed.

Richard didn't react as the man approached him.

"You know... I have been looking all over for you..."

The other man started to laugh harder, it was the kind of deeply irritating laugh that screamed inside your head for hours after it had passed.

The man pulled down his hood, and Richard was shocked, he stood, wide eyed and motionless...

"Who the fuck is that?" Alex managed, before collapsing from the stress of the days events and the injuries he had sustained.


End file.
